Poroshenko Begins Poland Visit, Will Address Parliament
Warsaw (dpa) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski after arriving in Warsaw on Wednesday, beginning a two-day visit to Poland that will focus on the Ukraine conflict and reforms for the Ukrainian economy and administration.
Poroshenko is also due to meet with Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz and give a speech to parliament.
According to an interview with the Ukrainian leader published in the Gazeta Wyborcza Polish daily, Poroshenko wants Ukraine to learn from Poland's transformation after the end of communism 25 years ago.
"Poland is our role model," he said.
EU membership is the most important future goal of Ukraine,
Poroshenko said, adding that he hoped Ukraine might fulfill the
criteria for EU membership in six years.
Winning the fight against corruption and transforming the Ukrainian economy are also important aims, he said.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
The Kremlin-backed head of Russia's Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov, has sparked controversy by saying he is "ready to resign and fight" alongside pro-Russian separatists in their conflict with government forces in eastern Ukraine.
In his interview with Russia's NTV television on December 16, the outspoken Kadyrov said that he intends to ask President Vladimir Putin to let him resign so that he can go to eastern Ukraine "to destroy devils who have neither honor nor dignity."
Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on December 17 that Kadyrov had made no request to resign.
Kadyrov expressed anger last week over what he said were expressions of support by several Ukrainian lawmakers for militants involved in an attack in the Chechen capital, Grozny, that killed 14 police officers on December 4.
Ukrainian authorities say Chechen troops loyal to Kadyrov have fought alongside the pro-Russian rebels in the conflict, which has killed more than 4,700 people since April.
Kadyrov denies it.
German Business Warns Ruble Plunge Will 'Affect Us All'
BERLIN (AFP) -- A German business group Wednesday cautioned against "Schadenfreude" over Russia's currency woes, predicting a 20-percent drop in German exports to the country this year and the risk of worse to come.
The ruble's sharp drop would further damage trade, already hurt by Western sanctions amid the Ukraine crisis, and slash revenues of foreign companies operating in Russia, said Eckhard Cordes, head of industry group the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations.
"I generally cautioned against Schadenfreude", or the pleasure at another's misfortune, Cordes told business daily the Handelsblatt.
"A destabilisation of Russia in the end isn't in anyone's interest, we would all be affected.
"At the moment we expect a 20-percent fall of German exports to Russia in 2014. But if the current situation continues, we could experience a bigger fall."
The ruble this week slumped to record lows against the dollar and the euro, losing around 60 percent of its value since the beginning of the year, due to plunging oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine.
It has recovered somewhat as the finance ministry has sold foreign currency to prop up the ruble.
Cordes, former head of German retail chain Metro, said that German companies producing in Russia, especially in the automotive and machine tool sectors, already face a tough choice as the cost of importing components has risen sharply.
"Either they keep producing and see their margins shrink, or they raise prices and face a collapse in demand," he said.
The German Chambers of Industry and Commerce also warned its members would be hit by the "dramatic drop in purchasing power" of Russians and said the trade and investment outlook was cloudy.
"German car factories have for weeks now cut working hours and are laying off employees," its foreign trade economist, Volker Treier, told the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung daily.
He pointed to a shopping spree in Russia as people are trying to offload money that is losing value but added that "this development will be limited once savings are used up".
Here is an update from our news desk:
Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski met with visiting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and said Warsaw was open to holding talks regarding potential sales of arms to its beleaguered neighbor.
At a December 17 joint press conference after the two presidents met in private, Komorowski said, "I know you are very much interested in the weapons issue" and he added, "I have not heard of any embargo on arms sales to Ukraine."
Komorowski continued, "If Ukraine is interested in this. Poland is absolutely open to such talks."
Reports did not say if Poroshenko replied to the offer.
Poroshenko did express thanks to Poland for sending two humanitarian convoys to residents in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, which is currently under the control of pro-Russian separatists.
Poroshenko is on the first day of a two-day visit to Poland.
(Reuters, dpa, Interfax)